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Method and apparatus for negotiating service agreementsRelated Patent Categories: Electrical Computers And Digital Processing Systems: Multicomputer Data Transferring, Distributed Data Processing, Client/serverMethod and apparatus for negotiating service agreements description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060143265, Method and apparatus for negotiating service agreements. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention relates generally to telecommunication system, and, more particularly, to networks of telecommunication systems. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] Telecommunication networks typically provide service capabilities that may be used by third parties to develop applications. The network service capabilities can be accessed in a secure and manageable way through a defined interface. For example, Parlay/OSA provides an architecture and a set of standardized interfaces that permit third parties to develop applications using service capabilities residing in the telecommunication network. The telecommunication network may be controlled by a network operator such as Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, Cingular, and the like. The Service Capability Features (SCF) of the network are exposed to third parties through an interface, such as a Parlay/OSA Application Programming Interface. Access control functions may be used to authorize access to the Service Capability Features and/or service data. For example, a Parlay/OSA Framework may control access to the network by third-party applications and may determine a security level, context, domain, and the like associated with methods used by the third-party applications. [0005] A service agreement between the third-party application provider and the network operator is typically established before any third-party application is allowed to interact with the network. The service agreements may consist of an off-line portion, such as a paper contract that may be signed by representatives of the third-party application provider and the network operator, and an online portion, which is generally an ASCII text file that may be transmitted from the network to the third-party application. The online portion of the service agreement must be digitally signed by the third-party application and returned to the network before the third-party application is allowed access to any part of the network, including the network Service Capability Features. [0006] FIG. 1 conceptually illustrates a conventional technique 100 that may be used to establish a service agreement between a third-party application 105 and one or more network Service Capability Features 110. In the conventional technique 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, the third-party application 105 is assumed to be authenticated and authorized. The third-party application 105 accesses a framework 115 and performs a discovery process 120 to obtain information associated with the authorized Service Capability Features 110. The third-party application 105 also receives a list of one or more versions of the network Service Capability Features 110 that match the required description provided by the third-party application 105. The third-party application 105 then selects one of the versions provided by the network Service Capability Features 110 and provides a signal indicative of the selection to the framework 115, as indicated by the arrow 125. For example, the third-party application 105 may use a selectService( ) method to select one of the versions. [0007] After selecting the desired version, the third-party application 105 provides a signal to the framework 115 indicating that the third-party application 105 is ready to sign the service agreement, as indicated by the arrow 130. For example, the third-party application 105 may use an InitiateSignServiceAgreement( ) method to indicate that the third-party application 105 is ready to sign the service agreement. The framework 115 provides the service agreement to the third-party application 105, as indicated by the arrow 135. For example, the framework 115 may use a signServiceAgreement( ) method to request that the third-party application 105 sign the service agreement. The service agreement is typically an ASCII file that cannot be modified by the third-party application 105, and so the third-party application 105 has the option of accepting the entire service agreement or declining the entire service agreement. The third-party application 105 does not, however, have the option of modifying and/or negotiating the service agreement conditions. [0008] The third-party application 105 decides whether or not to accept or decline the service agreement and provides a signal indicating whether it has accepted or declined the service agreement, as indicated by the arrow 140. For example, if the third-party application 105 accepts the service agreement, the third-party application 105 may provide a digital signature to the framework 115. The third-party application 105 may also request that the framework 115 sign the service agreement, which may allow the third-party application 105 to utilize the network Service Capability Features 110. Once the service agreement has been accepted and/or signed by the third-party application 105 and/or the framework 115, the third-party application 105 may begin an interaction 145 with the network Service Capability Features 110. For example, the framework 115 may return a reference to a service manager interface so that the third-party application 105 may access the network Service Capability Feature 110 via the service manager interface. [0009] The present invention is directed to addressing the effects of one more of the problems set forth above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0010] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is discussed later. [0011] In one embodiment of the instant invention, a method is provided for establishing a service agreement between an application and a telecommunication network. The method includes receiving a schema having a plurality of granules, selecting at least one granule from the schema, forming the service agreement based upon the at least one selected granule, and providing the service agreement. [0012] In another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for establishing a service agreement between an application and a telecommunication network. The method includes providing a schema having a plurality of granules, receiving the service agreement formed from at least one granule selected from the schema, determining whether to accept the service agreement, and providing an indication of whether the service agreement is accepted. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0013] The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which: [0014] FIG. 1 conceptually illustrates a conventional technique that may be used to establish a service agreement between a third-party application and one or more network Service Capability Features; [0015] FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates a telecommunication system including a network, in accordance with the present invention; and [0016] FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates one embodiment of a method for establishing a service agreement between an application and a framework, in accordance with the present invention. [0017] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS [0018] Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions should be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. [0019] Portions of the present invention and corresponding detailed description are presented in terms of software, or algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These descriptions and representations are the ones by which those of ordinary skill in the art effectively convey the substance of their work to others of ordinary skill in the art. An algorithm, as the term is used here, and as it is used generally, is conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of optical, electrical, or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. [0020] It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, or as is apparent from the discussion, terms such as "processing" or "computing" or "calculating" or "determining" or "displaying" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical, electronic quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. Continue reading about Method and apparatus for negotiating service agreements... 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